? for women who've had great success lifting

most of the threads here and success stories i've read are from people who lift 3X week. There are alot of threads here for "NROWL"

Full body workouts 3 times per week is ideal for losing fat.

I don't see a problem with the cardio you're doing but you might want to increase your lifting to three days a week if you're doing a full body lift.

I personally lift weights every day but it's one body part/day with abs and legs on the alternating days. I also do 30 minutes of hard cardio and I fit in 2 other forms of cardio in the afternoon which are either 2 brisk walks or 1 jog and a brisk walk (I have a dog who is very hyper and needs to be walked twice a day). Depending on my route it could add an extra 105 to 120 minutes of "cardio" to my day. I haven't had any issues with my muscle building while continuing my cardio the way I have. For me if I cut out or cut down the cardio I gain weight but you need to figure out what works for you for your weight loss goals.

What you eat is important as well as your workouts. Protein and carbs pre and post workout are very important.

If you are doing full body work outs then 3x per week is optimal. But all lifting is not equal. You need 3 days a week on a GOOD program and you need to leave it all in the gym when you lift. You also need to be getting enough protein and calories. Consider cutting the cardio down. Learn to love intensity not duration, that's what gets you results.

Edit: by good I mean has lots of compounds movement s with free weights, few isolation exercises and machines.

Great advice. Bring HIIT to the plate for your cardio and you'll be done in 15 minutes with great results. 45 minutes of good heavy lifting with free weights and you'll be done in an hour, not including changing/showering and you will see great results if you stick with it. I LOVE Zumba, so there's no way I would tell you to cut it out of your routine. Make sure you are working on flexibility as well. It will help with any soreness and get you ready for your next workout

Excellent advice! And remember, rest burns fat, rest builds lean muscle. All the lifting in the world won't help you if you don't take adequate rest. I lost 40lbs in 3mos resting 4 days a week, and only working out for 1hr on lift days. If I lost any muscle...it was VERY minimal.

I read that for the best fat burn, it's not how many times a week but how many reps total you do per week. Optimal results were achieved when doing each movement/lift between 40-60 times per week. So if you do twice a week 4x5 that's 40 or if you do three times a week 3x5 that's 45 and so on. Let me see if I can find the study and give you a link.

I do 5x5 on one program 2x a week, 5x5 on a second program 1x a week, then the next week the second program gets 2x a week, and the first program 1x a week. Squats are included in each program, and so are done 5x5 3x a week. My workouts are all full body, but incorporate different lifts depending on the program for that day.

Once you start seeing the changes in your body....you'll be hooked on lifting!! I train one body part / day 5 days per week and do cardio on non-lifting days + 1 session on my two a days. I find this has worked both for fat loss and muscle gains. Keep at it!!

I would. I lift 4-5 days a week and only train one body part per session. This has really helped me to focus on each muscle group and really start increasing my strength. ***not saying YOU have to lift 4-5 days, 3 is fine, just explaining that that is my workout routine
Why not try it for a bit and see if it makes a difference? You can always go back if it isn't working for you.

I'd do 3 full body routines (and that is what I do). Maybe drop one of your weekend cardio class and replace with lifting.

Do squats! Lunges and Dead liifts